


Rowena goes Christmas shopping

by CastielsCarma



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker Secret Santa 2018, Collaborative fic, Destiel - Freeform, Gen, Team Free Will 2.0
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-25 20:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17128643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielsCarma/pseuds/CastielsCarma
Summary: Jack's idea for a Secret Santa Exchange finds Rowena in a mall, trying to buy a Christmas present for Maggie.





	Rowena goes Christmas shopping

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the [Bunker Secret Santa 2018](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17124194) fic and art collaboration on Tumblr.

Rowena MacLeod fiddled with the phone in her hand, the screen glowing as she read the name in the text message. A Secret Santa exchange barely a week before Christmas! Only Jack could think that was a good idea, Rowena mused. She – along with the Winchesters, the angel, Jack, every one of the new hunters – had been busy with Michael's horrendous monsters. What was the world coming to, when even monsters couldn't be proper monsters anymore? Silver not killing werewolves? Vampires not fearing Dead Man's blood? On top of that, she had dealt with some personal matters that needed her attendance, and the days flew by in a blur. Christmas shopping just needed to be wedged in whenever and for Rowena that meant just two days before the Christmas party.

Pulling the cloak closer to her body Rowena reassessed her thoughts; maybe celebrating this holiday and going gift-shopping was what they all needed. It would certainly pull Rowena out of her troubled mind, put it to better use. Her powers were still recharging after her encounter with Billie, but to what extent they would be fully back she didn't know. Frowning, Rowena banished those thoughts to the back of her mind. It leads her to darker paths, to Fergus and how she had – Purposefully she reminded herself about what the Winchesters had told her. About her future, about Samuel Winchester and her connection to him, _their_ fate irrevocably intertwined.

Rowena was not sure if the Resurrection Seal inside her body would work again if Death spoke the truth about her demise. She had searched in every spell book she could think of, perused all the lore in the Men of Letter's library and nothing she had found could be of use. The boys had faith though, that they would find a way like they always seemed to do. 

Faith. It was like magic but with no certainty of actually working. At least with magic, you had some chance of a spell to work, a word said just so to do what you intended. In Rowena's case, the spells usually worked flawlessly. She would pick magic over faith any day. It was just that sometimes life grabbed you by the shoulders and rendered you hopeless and you were reduced to a (very carefully hidden) mess clinging to faith because that was all you were left. You had to grab hold of faith unless you drowned in fear and then a big fool of a moose had to claim – no insist – that no matter the amount of magic you tried to gather you would never feel safe again.

Refusing to entertain her darker thoughts anymore, Rowena looked at the phone again and the name Jack had picked out for her. _Maggie_. Maggie? Finally attaching a face to the name, Rowena realized that Maggie was one of the girls from the Apocalypse World. When she had first received the message she had waited a couple more minutes, maybe Jack had meant to send her another text. Maybe Jack had meant Dean? She was sure of what she could give Dean as a Christmas present. Maggie? She barely knew the woman. All she recalled was a wee young girl with dark hair, bubbly and full of excitement and... young. If she had had more time she could have prepared a proper gift but this called for improvisation. Now she just needed to find a gift in this so-called mega-mall.

~~~

It would have been much easier a century ago, even fifty years back would have made a difference. A nice pen, a knitted blanket, proper chicken bones and the spit of a cat for that special spell. But Christmas shopping today was something entirely different. Rowena didn't do shopping like this. She usually didn't do shopping at all, if it wasn't for gorgeous dresses, necklaces, vials of magical blood, rabbit's feet or any other item a successful witch needed to have in her arsenal.

The mega-mall was crowded, people either scurrying to buy last minute gifts or walking maddeningly slow. The word _abi_ was on her lips, just a wee word that would have made this experience much more delightful but she had promised Dean and Sam that she would be good. Maybe it even was a promise to herself. She had indeed found herself hesitating at crossroads that before had never made her pause.

Good. She almost scoffed at the idea, but somehow those big buffoons in their flannels had wiggled themselves inside a heart she had thought long gone dead. And Jack, – someone who should have been hidden in the darkest corners of her mind – associated with Lucifer, was not who she had thought he was. Samuel had vouched for Jack and whether she liked it or not, she and Sam had a bond of sorts. The boy Jack was kind, good even. Maybe too good for his own good.

Rowena looked around at all the different stores and walked into a cosmetics shop. The vendors had numerous brands with different kinds of perfumes in varying bottles, be they shaped like a teardrop, flat, slender, round or accessorized with flowers, bees or keys. Some bottles even resembled nude women bodies of all things. The third time an employee had the audacity to spray a cloud of some godforsaken stench of perfume on her, she was ready to snap her fingers and make the man explode into tiny pieces. This was one of the reasons she avoided malls and people in general.

“Isn't the fragrance lovely, ma'am? Notes of vanilla, ylang-ylang, and citrus. It pairs nicely with a beautiful lady as yourself.”

Rowena raised an eyebrow. “Charming but I'm shopping a gift for someone else. Don't really know her  _that_  well, but I do know that”, Rowena waved a finger at the man “that this perfume a bit wee too sophisticated and frankly overwhelming. That smell will certainly alert all kinds of creatures of the night. Don't you have anything more grounded and subtle? Say for a lass who never used perfume or the likes. Someone wh0's had to struggle a lot with said creatures but is like a ray of confused sunshine anyway, hopelessly youthful and... bubbly?”

The vendor closed his mouth, staring at Rowena like she was mad. He licked his lips and she could see his thoughts coming together slowly.

“Well? You have hundreds of bottles, surely you can find something fitting, right? If the folks of old could make do with oil, crushed herbs, and petals, surely some of your modern perfumes can fulfill my request?”

“I will certainly have a look, ma'am. One moment please.” He turned around and went to some shelves, picking up an assortment of different bottles and brands of perfume.

Rowena looked at the people milling about and tried to tune out the Christmas songs that were trying to worm their way inside her head. Cakes, holiday cheer, sappy movies, it all seemed so sentimental. Sure, she had lived for centuries but she had been kind of busy, surviving, growing from a poor, scared child into a powerful witch.

Then it was the business of evading the Winchesters, double-crossing the Winchesters, then helping the Winchesters. And as if the Winchester love story was not enough, she was searching for magical spell books and trying to shape the poor excuses of wee witch-lings she had known into something more, a grand coven. It was not that she celebrated Christmas even. Not that she knew much about Scottish Christmas to be honest. That had not been celebrated while she lived there, a forbidden thing and while she had her son Fergus she had not been the best of mothers. Fergus had not brought her much joy. That was the story she had told herself but in the darkest of nights, she knew it for the lie it was.

She could see the vendor approaching her again, a few bottles in hand. “These are the ones I thought of when you described your, um… specifics.” He handed her a bottle that looked like a sad banana. Rowena took one whiff and scrunched her nose. Another one looked like the curvature of a woman and reminded her of something strong and pungent – like fish guts. Not even she could do that to poor Maggie.

“Thank you but no thank you. I much appreciate your help in this endeavor but I don't think you have the right gift for me.” With that she turned – her red hair flowing behind her – and walked out of the store.

Impossibly enough there seemed to be even more people milling about now. Rowena sighed as she yanked her robe free from a child stepping on it. Where was Bernard when you needed him?

What would Maggie like? Maybe a silver-knife blessed with a special incantation? She seemed awful… excited and bubbly, Rowena thought as she was walking around, deciding on which store to enter. A self-defense class, some yarn to knit a pair of mittens with, a bland box of chocolates, or something edible that contained excessive amounts of cinnamon? Every one of those gift ideas was something she couldn't see herself buying. Was not the gift to reflect the giver too? Rowena was sure she had read that in some book somewhere.

Several eyes were on her as she casually walked among the different stores. Who could blame them? She was wearing her best robe, and the green dress underneath hugged her body nicely. Rowena had even decided to wear a Christmas brooch she had found in a little store in a small city on the Florida coast two decades ago – a miniature moose covered in red, white and green stones. Samuel would certainly approve. The brooch made her think of Crowley, her son. If only she could have been the person now back then, maybe things would have gone differently – he would still be alive – and Rowena hesitated to use the word happy, but maybe they could have been content at least.

Rowena pursed her lips. She would need to find something. The drive to the Bunker took a few hours, and this mall seemed to be sorely lacking in the gift-department section. Who wanted pepper grinders, a seven pack of Christmas- socks or body wash for presents anyway?

Wedged in between a toy store and a Bed, Bath & Beyond she caught something of interest and stopped. A tea store that displayed a multitude of teas in different glass jars; scrunchy oolong, red rooibos, fragrant masala chai, chamomile, and powdery green matcha tea. The fragrances of the different tees all seemed to come together into some sort of singular primordial tea-scent. Not only were there teas, but different kinds of coffee and hot chocolate and all imaginable accessories you could think of when you thought tea and coffee. Rowena glanced at a tea infuser that looked like something to be used in the bedroom rather than for dipping in hot water. She picked up one infuser that looked like a flower.

“Not for Maggie, these infusers. We are going with the basics. Sweet liquid and magical tool in one, the perfect present. Now, what would an upbeat, young hunter like for tea?” Putting the infuser back, she went further into the store.

Rowena walked among the aisles until she came across the leaf teas. Excellent, a satisfying drink and then Maggie could do some divination. There could be wisdom found in observing the leaves and which patterns they formed. All you needed was an intention. Picking up a glass jar of peppermint tea she opened the lid and inhaled the scent. Mm, very good; a fresh, bold scent.

Mint with all the properties it carried would be great for Maggie. Relaxing when she needed a pause and cool-down from hunting, it would help her improve the quality of her sleep – Gods knew Samuel always complained about the lack of sleep – and it would boost her immune system. As an added bonus it improved digestion, why would Maggie say no to that?

A chirpy voice brought her out of her musings. “Evening, ma'am! Do you need help with picking out some teas?”

Rowena put down the jar and looked at the girl in front of her, a scrawny thing with her brown hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. She looked like she was twelve; what did she know about teas?

“No thank you. I have been around long enough to pick up one or two things about tea.” She looked at the name tag, Summer. “Can you bag up this tea please, darling? It's a Christmas present for a wee lass just like yourself.”

“Yes, of course, ma'am. Please follow me.”

Rowena followed Summer to the register and watched as she wrapped the tea in some Christmas-themed paper. Turning to her left a tea mug caught her attention, where it was on display with other mugs, cups, and kettles. A red porcelain mug with big golden embossed letters on the side: _Witching you a Merry Christmas_.

“Would this be all for you today, ma'am?” Happy as ever this Summer girl, Rowena mused, and this time it was a fond thought.

“Actually Summer, I would need you to bag one more item for me.”

Bag in hand, Rowena elbowed her way through throngs of people until she found the exit. The day had given way to darkness and there was a chill in the air. Pulling the cloak around herself, Rowena walked back to the car, eager to get to the Bunker and her friends, eager to celebrate Christmas with the people she had come to care about.


End file.
